1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a reinforced film for blast resistance protection and methods thereof. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a reinforced film comprising an elastomeric polymer laminate, and a scrim layer at least partially embedded in the elastomeric polymer laminate layer, wherein the reinforced film comprises a puncture resistance of at least five thousand pounds per square inch.
2. Description of the Related Art
Structures, such as houses and buildings, depending on their location, may often be at risk of damage or destruction by enemy forces, terrorist attacks or natural disasters. It is often necessary to provide extensive protection for these structures, due to the chance they may be adversely effected by direct or proximate explosions or flying debris. In such cases, a device may be desirable to mitigate or prevent damage to the contents of these structures and to mitigate or prevent potential casualties and/or injuries.
Conventional systems for preventing or mitigating assaults on structures include, for example, the use of concrete barricades which have been designed and used to protect military buildings. However, such barriers are heavy, difficult to transport, expensive, and easily visible to enemy forces. Concrete barricades may also be a completely impractical solution in situations where the structure requiring protection is in an active war location or in a primitive third-world region. Thus, explosion blast barriers have been designed and used to protect the interior side of exterior building walls, providing greater wall integrity in the event of an explosion. In most blast barrier designs, the barriers are composed of materials that are excessively heavy, cumbersome and expensive, and simply are not practical for quick transport and deployment to a target structure. Excessive weight and decreased mobility is often the result of the barrier being too massive.
Even current improvements over such conventional barriers also have many weaknesses. For example, some more recent blast barriers are designed such that they are sprayed onto the surface to be protected. Although this solution may be practical for new building construction, application of such a barrier is not practical in many applications, in particular, in war zones and remote regions. For example, the process of coating the walls of a single room with a heavy coating of urea (most commonly used as spray for truck liners) may take up to a week to accomplish, requires cumbersome equipment, and may not provide an instant protective barrier.
Thus, a need exists for a reinforced film that provides the necessary additional structural integrity to a structure while remaining flexible, lightweight, and easy to apply.